Here I talk to poet Caleb Parkin about his upcoming poetry workshop, Impurities: Poetry and Contamination, which is run by London Lit Lab on 8th Feb, 2-4pm and costs £20. You can book it here, and find out more about it from the link, and below.
Poetry is often framed as a solitary activity – but what if we invite our fellow poets to disrupt our patterns and habits? Allow that much-vaunted ‘poetic voice’ to be contaminated by our fellow travellers. In this ecopoetic workshop, we’ll consider the voices in the landscape of critters and matter itself – disrupting individual authorship in a playful, provocative and enjoyable process.
We meet around a ‘pool’ of words, teeming with unseeing beings – both human and nonhuman. We’ll explore worlds-within-worlds both human and more-than-. Here, the perfect pond or pool becomes a tarnished symbol of purity – because no water is cut off from the water table, just as our writing is never free of contaminants or influence.
We’ll look at poems of ponds and pools that aren’t quite what they seem, then mingle our lingo. Drawing on ecological ideas around toxicity, ‘forever chemicals’, hauntings and the ecogothic – which sparked his latest collection, Mingle – Caleb leads you through a hyperreal and surreal landscape, which gazes back. A workshop where new particles arrive and settle in our poems, through magical osmosis.
During this workshop, you will:
Read and reflect on poems exploring pools, ‘contamination’ and ‘otherworldliness’
Draft your own poems inspired by these and related to these themes
Use the chat as our ‘pool’, to share aspects of your own writing, and be inspired by others’ shared snippets
Develop an awareness of new ideas in ecocriticism and queer ecologies
Evolve your creative practice through new and unusual prompts and activities
Ideal for intermediate and advanced poets, or those are any stage with an interest in these themes and approaches.
Quotes about Caleb’s facilitation:
“Loved all of it – the way Caleb links things in a web-like way is very inspiring.”
“Brilliant workshop leader. Terrific energy. Surprising exercises.”
“It was fantastic, so warm and friendly – thanks for a most enjoyable and inspiring session. I enjoyed having a go at writing and you were so encouraging.”
“What an excellent tutor Caleb – thank you very much. I’ve been so impressed by the generous, detailed and specific feedback you’ve given me and also everyone else on the course – it seems to me that you are excellent at pitching your comments to where each person is at, which is a great skill.”
About the tutor
Caleb Parkin, Bristol City Poet 2020 – 22, has featured in The Guardian, The Rialto, The Poetry Review and was guest poet on BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please. His debut collection This Fruiting Body (Nine Arches, 2021) was longlisted for the Laurel Prize.
He’s published three pamphlets: Wasted Rainbow (tall-lighthouse, 2021); The Coin (Broken Sleep, 2022); and collected City Poet commissions, All the Cancelled Parties (2022). His second collection, Mingle (Nine Arches, October 2024) recently featured in Resurgence and Ecologist magazine.
Caleb has featured at literary festivals including Poetry in Aldeburgh, Lyra Fest and Push the Boat Oat. He tutors for Arvon, Poetry Society and Poetry School, Metanoia Institute, and holds an MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes from Metanoia Institute.
He is currently a practice-based PhD researcher at University of Exeter with RENEW Biodiversity, exploring human/nonhuman communication and creaturely voices in poetry.
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